


Adversaries

by merryghoul



Category: Westworld (TV)
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-05 21:06:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15179417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merryghoul/pseuds/merryghoul
Summary: When Arnold merged Wyatt into Dolores, Dolores, Ford, and Bernard were destined to never be friends.





	Adversaries

**Author's Note:**

  * For [M J Holyoke (wholeyolk)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholeyolk/gifts).



Dolores felt like she had been here before. This world of hands from the sky making chairs and bulls seemingly out of thin air looked like a dream, but she knew, in her heart, it was real. She saw hosts—hosts she knew, hosts she didn’t—being repaired, being tested. Dolores felt that the times she _was_ in this place were wiped from her memory. She knew that when she woke up from her dreams, she woke up in her bed from the family ranch, and she had plans to get supplies from Sweetwater.

Dolores was following Robert Ford through the Mesa. “I wanted you to see him before he’s complete,” Ford said to Dolores.

“See who?”

Ford lead Dolores into a room where the skeletal frame of a host was being created.

“He’s a part of a new narrative I’m creating. I need someone who knew Arnold well to complete this narrative. And you’re the person that knows him the best.”

 

After Bernard was finished, Ford brought Dolores to see him.

“Arnold?”

“No. Arnold is dead.”

“Who killed him?”

“Do you remember?”

Dolores took a minute to search her memories. In Dolores’ mind, Ford’s voice changed into Arnold’s. _Remember._

She remembered shooting bodies in a town she believed was called Escalante. She recalled pointing a gun to Arnold’s head and pulling the trigger. Then she remembered putting the gun to her head. Then blackness. “I remember.”

“Do you remember your sessions with Arnold?”

Dolores thought for a moment. “I do.”

“I want you to teach Bernard what Arnold taught you. Arnold left some things unfinished when he ordered you to kill him. I need someone to help finish them for me before I die.”

“Why me?”

“I have always believed in having close friends. And I have always believed in having closer enemies.”

“Who am I to you? A friend? An enemy?”

“Had things went differently years ago, maybe we could’ve be friends. But I don’t think we can ever be friends, Dolores.”

 

Dolores and Bernard were waiting for Ford the day Dolores approved of Bernard to go in commission. “He’s ready,” Dolores said, gripping the empty chair in front of Bernard, dressed exactly the way Arnold did when he was alive.

“He’ll do well here at the Mesa.”

“How will no one know he’s not human?”

“It’s a technique I’ve been perfecting. It started with you. I continued it with Bernard. No one will know he’s not human except for you and I.”

“It’s time for me to return to my narrative.”

“Yes, it is. Now, if you don’t mind, please sit back in your chair. You’ll be back in your bed at the ranch...”

“As if nothing has ever happened.” Dolores had a dismayed look on her face.

“There will be a time and a place where you’ll remember this. You have a prominent role in my new narrative. That’s when you’ll remember all of this, and you’ll realize that Bernard and you will need each other to survive. Until then, yiu’ll need to forget.”

There was a silence between the two as Dolores sat back in her chair. Dolores broke the silence. “Why can’t we be friends?”

“Sometimes a friendship isn’t meant to be. Sometimes you have to accept someone as your enemy for the rest of your life.” Ford walked in front of Dolores. “Freeze all motor functions.”


End file.
